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New Holden Commodore VF to be Unveiled on February 10, Previews New Chevy SS

Monday, February 4, 2013

Dubbed by General Motors' Australian subsidiary Holden as the "most advanced vehicle created in this country", the new VF-series Commodore sedan will be officially revealed this Sunday, February 10, though, the automaker will use social media and a new microsite at 'buildthecommodore' to tease bits and pieces of the new model beginning on Wednesday, February 6.

The next generation of the Commodore sedan also forms the base for GM's new North American market 2014 Chevrolet SS, which is scheduled for launch towards the end of the year as a limited production model. As some of you may recall, CarScoop's Josh Byrnes recently rendered the new SS.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

As many of our readers are probably already aware, Chevrolet is entering next year's NASCAR championship with an entirely new model aptly called the SS, which was previewed in Las Vegas just last month.

The Super Sport racer will be unique to the championship as the production-going road car has yet to be revealed and won't even built in the United States; to find it's country of origin you'll have to get an atlas and turn it upside down; yes that's right, it will be built in the backyard that Crocodile Dundee calls home - Australia.

Based on the Zeta architecture, the new SS won't be entirely new to the market when it goes on sale next year as a 2014 model. In fact, it's GM's second attempt to get the Holden-based Commodore on US shores - with the last try drying up after the Pontiac division was dissolved.

GM realizes that they still have a good product with the Commodore down under, so coinciding with the upcoming Aussie redesign they have given it another chance. This update is expected to bring substantial technological and interior quality advances over the previous G8 / current Commodore.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

As promised, Chevrolet lifted the wraps off its 2013 NASCAR Chevrolet SS racecar today during a special event in Las Vegas. Even if you're not a fan of NASCAR racing, you'll be interested to know that the competition SS incorporates design cues from the upcoming production 2014 Chevrolet SS.

We'll remind you that all NASCAR racers feature a generic body with some minor modifications that include the funny looking decals that resemble the head- and tail-lights. To understand the relationship between a production model and its NASCAR sibling, check out Ford's Fusion racer in our previous post here.

"As a passionate race fan, the debut of the SS NASCAR race car is a genuinely exciting moment for me,” said GM North America President Mark Reuss during the presentation of the car in Las Vegas.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Australia's high-performance car manufacturer Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) continues the yearlong festivities for its 25th anniversary with the presentation of a special edition version of the GTS ahead of a world premiere at the 2012 Sydney auto show later in October.

"From day one, our mission at HSV has been to build Australia's finest performance cars. Every year, for the past 25, we have refined and evolved on what has gone before. And now, we present the newest HSV flag bearer – our 25th Anniversary GTS," said Holden's subsidiary in a statement.

In essence, the new 25th Anniversary GTS is a cosmetic and equipment package as there's no extra oomph for the special edition, which keeps the regular model's 6.2-litre V8 LS3 engine with 436Hp (325kW) and 550Nm (405.6 lb-ft).

Monday, September 24, 2012

From the magical land of eBay comes our next tale of replicas. This newly found example is pretending to be a Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4, though even an untrained eye can see that there something is wrong with car's proportions.

The seller and builder of the replica is "Z and M Customs", which is located in the city of Eagle in Ada County, Idaho.

The company informs us that the Aventador lookalike is built on the chassis and mechanical components of a "GM Holden" with power coming from a "LS1 V8 Corvette with approximately 400HP".

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Holden Special Vehicles, or HSV for short, is the high-performance arm of the GM-owned Holden brand in Australia. This week, HSV released details on its updated MY12.5 range that coincides with the company's year-long 25th anniversary celebrations.

The big story for the new model year is the re-introduction of the most affordable Commodore based V8 models, the ClubSport saloon and the Maloo ute, which is Aussie talk for a car-based utility vehicle (think Chevrolet El Camino).

Both models sit below their respective R8 level variants in terms of equipment missing out on HSV’s Enhanced Driver Interface (EDI) and in the case of the Maloo, the remote locking hard tonneau and performance sailplane as well, but do keep other goods such as the 20-inch wheels, performance seats, satellite navigation and Rear Park Assist with reversing camera.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Remember the 1979 Holden Kingswood HZ SL that was unearthed after being tucked away in a garage in Adelaide for the past 27 years having clocked a mere 998 kilometers (620 miles) since it was bought brand new?

The daughter of the car's original owner has listed the classic Australian model on Carsales for AU$40,000 (about US$40,200 or €32,200).

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Just when you think that all barn, garage and let's not forget, dealer lot finds, have been unearthed, along comes another story to prove you wrong.

This past Sunday saw the unearthing of a 1979 Holden Kingswood HZ saloon in Adelaide, Australia. Warren Edwards, a photographer from Adelaide and a family friend of the car's current owners, was on hand to snap the pictures you see posted here.

The mid-size Aussie sedan, which is powered by a 4.2-liter V8 rated at 120kW/161hp, had been bought brand new but due to the owner's sudden illness at the time, it was parked in his garage after covering a little over 900km (~560 miles).

It had been taken out only once in 1985 to replace its alternator before heading back to its resting place where it remained until a few days ago.

Edwards tells us:

Thursday, May 17, 2012

We have been reporting for quite some time that General Motors is planning to bring the next Holden Commodore sedan to the States as a Chevrolet, and now the Detroit carmaker has made it official.

The General confirmed the news that next Commodore will return to North America in late 2013 as the new Chevrolet SS rear-wheel drive performance sedan, adding that the SS will also be the brand's next NASCAR Sprint Cup racecar beginning with the 2013 Daytona 500.

"As a passionate race fan and performance enthusiast, I am thrilled that Chevrolet will deliver a true rear-wheel-drive NASCAR racecar in the SS that is closely linked to the performance sedan that will be available for sale," said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Reports from Down Under are claiming that Holden will soon make an official announcement on a new export program to bring the next generation of the Commodore sedan codenamed VF to America as the new Chevrolet SS.

Australia's News.com.au tied the story with General Motor's recent decision to retire the Impala from NASCAR racing and replace it with a different Chevrolet nameplate for the 2013 series, saying that the Chevy SS will lend its body and name to the new racecar.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The United States and Canada aren't alone in supporting General Motors and its companies.

The Australian government is also doing its part to keep GM's local subsidiary Holden in the country by promising a subsidy package worth more than AU$200 million (US$210 million) after the automaker threatened to shut down its operations if it did not get financial aid beyond 2015.

While Holden has yet to issue an official statement, Australian news daily, The Age, reported that the country's Prime Minister Julia Gillard, along with South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, Holden chairman Mike Devereux and vehicle union boss Ian Jones will be in Canberra today for the official announcement.

After securing the financial assistance, Holden is said to continue producing cars in the country until for at least another 10 years. According to sources, Holden has promised to invest some AU$750 million in its Australian operations during this period.

Interestingly, the newspaper said that Holden will "soon confirm an export deal to sell Commodores in the US, where the car will carry a Chevrolet badge."

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The car that most Americans know as the Chevy Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle) owes as much to the Australian designed and built Holden Caprice luxury sedan reviewed here as the latter owes to business decisions Ford Australia made a couple of decades ago.

In the early 1970s, Holden – GM’s Australian subsidiary – introduced two new models to compete with local rival Ford. The first was the Statesman, a vehicle with no Holden badging whatsoever, designed as a direct competitor to Ford’s Australian-built Fairlane and as a replacement for the unloved Brougham sedan.

A few years later came the Statesman Caprice, an even more luxurious model, introduced to compete with Ford’s freshly minted LTD.

Thus the Caprice name was born. Over the years the Caprice has grown in interior room, price and standard equipment but retains the same basic idea of what Aussie luxury should be. We took the V8 engined V Series II model out for a week long road test and review.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Once a production hub, Australia's motoring industry is now facing the prospect of losing one of its most acclaimed model series, the Holden Commodore (and apparently, its Caprice derivatives) after the upcoming redesign, which is scheduled for 2013.

While production of the 2013 Commodore VF will endure at least until 2017, The Sydney Morning Herald (via its Drive car site) is reporting today that Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux confirmed that the brand will decide on its local manufacturing future beyond 2018 before the end of December.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

If you're not from the Land of Down Under or at least an avid Holden fan, then you're probably unfamiliar with the 1987 HDT Commodore VL SS Group A prepped by Australian racing legend Peter Brock. So before we get into the details on the new VL/VE Group A package, allow us to fill you in on a bit of the history.

Up until the late 1980s, Peter Brock was running HDT, or Holden Dealer Team, but GM's Australian division subsequently cut ties with him after he began publicly supporting and fitting all HDT models with the a device called the "Energy Polariser".

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The first batch of GM's Australian-built 2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV [Police Patrol Vehicle] cruisers hit the streets across the States earlier this year with more to arrive in the following months.

Despite the fact that the police car launch has sparked some interest for a civilian version as well, the Detroit maker has not such plans on the table – at least not for now.

Today, we stumbled upon a detailed -if not a bit tiring and lengthy- video walkaround of the 2012 Caprice from a Youtube user who goes by the name "Saabkyle04". The unmarked police cruisers with the detective package were located at a GM dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Friday, October 7, 2011

In an eco-marathon, you normally expect the winner to be a hybrid, a diesel or some other super-frugal -and usually underpowered- car. Well, in the Fleet World MPG Marathon the champion had no less than 431-horses kicking and screaming to be unleashed under its bonnet.

You read that correctly: the LS3 6.2-liter V8-powered VXR8 - essentially a Holden HSV rebadged as a Vauxhall for the UK market- won the two-day, 350-mile economy trial.

How did this happen? There's a simple explanation: this award wasn't given to the most fuel efficient vehicle in absolute numbers, but to the one that recorded the highest percent improvement over the official fuel consumption figures.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

While Holden's engineering team is working hard on the development of the new generation Commodore dubbed VF, which is expected to launch within the next two to three years, the company's designers took some time off to spiff up the current model.

For the 2012 model year, Australia's homegrown Commodore VE (sold as the Pontiac G8 in the States before the brand was axed) receives some minor exterior and interior enhancements, plus the introduction of the track-inspired FE3 sports suspension on the Redline series.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

For those of you that think driving through the congested roads of Manhattan or Paris is bad, maybe you should take a look at the following video, which seems to have been shot somewhere in the Middle East (if you happen to know where, leave us a comment below).

In broad daylight and while normal drivers are using the road, numerous wannabe drifters, mostly in American and Australian rear-wheel drive saloons like the Ford Crown Victoria, Chrysler 300 and the Holden-based Chevrolet Caprice, are showing off their rides slideways.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

General Motor’s Holden Special Vehicles unit in Australia is following in the footsteps of Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division as well as more recently, Porsche, with the presentation of a black-themed and named special edition series based on the E Series 3 range launched last September.

Making its world debut at the 2011 Australian motorshow in Melbourne, the SV Black Edition package is offered in the ClubSport R8, Maloo R8 and ClubSport R8 Tourer, which are the sports versions of the Commodore sedan, ute, and station wagon models respectively.

The thundering sounds of Australia’s V8-powered racecars will soon be heard in the U.S.A. as Texas Governor Rick Perry and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, announced today a five-year agreement to bring the famed Australian V8 Supercar series to the new Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas beginning in 2013.

"The addition of V8 Supercars into our lineup at Circuit of The Americas will add to what we already know will be a rich and exhilarating fan experience," said Steve Sexton, President of Circuit of The Americas.